Sunday Homily - October 6th, 2019 - Horses, Riders, and Faith

I.

Have you ever ridden
 a really well-trained horse before?

If you have,
 you might not know how many hundreds of hours of riding
  and training and guidance
   that that particular animal needed
    in order to respond faithfully and loyally,
     trusting in its rider
      and following instructions.

Some of you know that I used to train American Quarter Horses
 when I was in high school.
  I also trained kids to ride horses when I was in college,
   so it occupied a large portion of my life.

And there are two things that I was taught as a trainer of horses
 and those things have held very true when passing on my riding instruction to adults and kids.

1) A horse is not a machine. It is an animal.
 AND
  2) A horse will do nothing it is asked unless it understands and trusts its rider.

So many people, when they walk up to a horse,
 treat it like they are hopping on a 4-wheeler to go for a drive
  or getting into a truck to go haul something.
   And those people's riding experience often ends in frustration.

They get on,
 and they have an expectation that the horse is just going to do what they [the rider] wants.

Guess what, y'all?
 Horses are bigger, stronger, and faster than we are.
  If a horse doesn't want to do what you want, don't be surprised!

Horses are animals, living beings
 that have their own language that they respond to
  and their own temperaments that have to be respected.

It is an animal, not a machine.

And, here is the thing that is really hard to explain to people,
 a horse KNOWS if it has a bad rider.

Western movies have kind of ruined this for a lot of people
 because there are a ton of Hollywood actors who have played in Westerns
  that clearly have NO idea how to ride a dang horse!

You can see it in the horse's temperament and in the nervous twitches
 that you catch if you look close enough.

Hollywood actors (for the most part)
 hop on horses as if they were 4-wheelers.

But if you have ever witnessed a horse and rider that really trust each other
 it is magical.

What you see on the outside seems to be a horse that does what it is told.
 But what I and other trainers see
  is a rider and horse who have spent HUNDREDS of hours together
   learning each other's language,
    respecting each other,
     struggling with each other
      until the horse learns that the rider only desires the best for the horse
       and likewise the horse puts its trust in the rider
        because the animal knows that they are trustworthy.

Experienced riders know
 that when they approach a horse,
  they are entering into a relationship,
   and one in which the horse is made better
    by learning to trust in the rider.

And this, friends,
 is the exact point that our Lord Jesus Christ makes today
  even though his metaphor may seem far more incendiary at first glance.

II.

Think about Jesus's words again:

"The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, `Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, `We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"
[Luke 17:5-10]

Anyone feel uncomfortable yet?
 Anyone like the metaphor that Jesus uses?

Probably not at first glance, if we are honest with ourselves!

But hang on,
 because here is why we have to remember
  that this is only 5 verses of the entire Gospel of Luke
   and taken out of their balanced context
    we as both preachers and hearers can lose our minds!

Because Jesus has already used this metaphor earlier in Luke
 and in the EXACT OPPOSITE way!

Today's Gospel is from Luke 17.
 Let's rewind for a second and take a listen to Luke 12.

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
[Luke 12:35-38]

Notice how Jesus in both of these passages
 uses the exact same metaphor
  in two different ways!

In Luke 17,
 the slaves (that's you and me, by the way)
  are to respond to our Master (that's God, by the way)
   with total obedience because that is the proper response of our faith
    towards God who deeply desires that our faith is increased.

AND

In Luke 12,
 the slaves (that's you and me, by the way)
  are served by our Master (that's God, by the way)
   because God is ready and willing to serve at the feet of the faithful,
    so that our faith may be increased by God's own action toward us.

And BOTH of these passages
 contain essential truth of our relationship with God.

Our Lord Jesus in Luke 17 makes it abundantly clear
 that we, the servants of God, must respond to God's training
  with obedience and complete trust
   even when there is not a carrot on a stick
    or a sugar cube to entice us.
     Because faith in God is not about the sweet treats along the way:
      faith in God is a duty and command for the salvation of the world.

AND Our Lord Jesus in Luke 12 makes it equally as clear to us
 that we, the servants of God, are also nurtured and cared for by God's own action,
  and that our obedience and trust in God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
   is not because of cruel coercion or by God divinely co-opting our free will
    but rather because God deeply cares for and desires our relationship!

We as Christians must remember the seriousness that we must take our faith in Jesus.
 Because if we truly believe that our faith in Jesus saves the world
  then it better darn well be shown by our commitment to that saving faith in the Triune God!

And we as Christians must remember the love and guidance that God freely gives to us
 ever second of every hour of every day of our lives.
  Because we serve a God who deeply loves us
   and who knows what is best for us spiritually, mentally, and physically.

III.

God's relationship to us is much more like a horse trainer

 than you might think.

God didn't have to spend hundreds of hours in relationship with us,

 training us in the way we should go,

  teaching us to obey and to trust in him.

And yet, God has been doing that for you for as long as you have been alive on this earth,

 even when you didn't know it yet. 

And one of the clearest ways that God trains us and deepens relationship with us

 is by gathering as church

  to receive the graces of Word and Sacrament. 

This is why it is so important to come to church!

Public worship,

 gathering together every Sunday, Wednesday, and otherwise

  is an opportunity to grow in relationship with God who loves you

   and to receive the training from Jesus Christ that truly saves the world!

We learn, and we train, and we work

 so that we then are sent back into the world with the necessary tools to share our saving faith

  with all people. 

We are trained in thanksgiving,

 "it is right to give thanks and praise."

We are trained in confession,

 "Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned."

We are trained in forgiveness, 

 "Forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."

We are trained in faith,

 "Lord, I believe! Please help my unbelief! Increase our faith!"

And most of all,

 we are trained for the purposes of loving God with all of our being:

  heart, soul, mind, and strength.

   And our neighbor as ourselves.

Don't neglect your training, brothers and sisters.

 And join me in training with our Loving Lord

  who desires the salvation of all.

In the name of the +Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.